ABI: Netbook Segment Still Growing at a Rapid Rate

Tablets might be the talk of the tech industry, but according to market research firm ABI Research, netbooks still rule the roost. Some 60 million netbooks are expected to ship around the globe in 2011, says ABI Research, and by 2013 ABI predicts that number will double.

That's good news for Acer, the biggest netbook player in terms of market share, and one of just six vendors who dominate the netbook market with a 78 percent stake. Asus, meanwhile, has lost some ground, giving up half of its market share in 2009 after running neck-and-neck with Acer in 2008.

"Instead of having a preeminent two, it looks as if only Acer will continue to maintain its commanding lead, but at the same time there are more vendors competing head-to-head," notes principal analyst Jeff Orr. "Most of the other major names -- HP, Dell, Lenovo -- increased their market shares in 2009, while Samsung lost a couple of percentage points."

According to Orr, while netbooks continue to flood the landscape, we can expect to see "consolidation through attrition" as companies which aren't heavily invested in netbooks start to exit the market.